April 14, 2010

Eternal Investments

Nothing lasts forever … except us, if we hold our hope in what Christ, the apostles and the prophets taught. Nothing else lasts, however. Jobs, cars, houses, stuff, stuff and all the stuff will be gone. Forever burned away. Replaced with a new creation, uncorrupted. But we will remain.

Every person is of infinitely more value than all the stuff of the world combined … yet, we don’t typically view each other that way, at least, not in my experience. We don’t even typically view ourselves in that light.

Relationships. Relationships are the stuff of eternity. How we relate and what we do with each other have eternal consequences. Our relationships with God and with each other are the only things of ultimate consequence. What we do with the life God’s given us is determined primarily by the countless small decisions we make each day, most with very little consideration or forethought. Most of us have substantial interactions with others throughout each day. Those interactions are the component parts of our relationships. What are we doing with them?

Yet, it’s so easy to fixate on the sparkly things of creation instead of on the creator and on the other eternal souls around us. From those with whom we are in regular contact – spouse, children, co-workers, to those with whom are meetings are few and fleet, God give us the eyes and wisdom to value our relationships and interactions more, help our relationships be marked by love and encouragement.